Russia meteorite chunks worth 40 times gold

A researcher examines pieces of a meteorite in a laboratory on Monday in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

MOSCOW — A meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains and sent fireballs blazing to Earth has set off a rush to find fragments of the space rock which hunters hope could fetch thousands of dollars apiece.

Friday's blast and the shock wave that followed shattered windows, injured almost 1,200 people and caused about $33 million worth of damage, said local authorities.

It also started a "meteorite rush" around the industrial city of Chelyabinsk, 950 miles (1,500 kilometers) east of Moscow, where groups of people have started combing through the snow and ice. One amateur space enthusiast estimated that chunks could be worth anything up to 66,000 rubles ($2,200) per gram — more than 40 times the current cost of gold.

"The price is hard to say yet . ... The fewer meteorites that are recovered, the higher their price," said Dmitry Kachkalin, a member of the Russian Society of Amateur Meteorite Lovers. Meteorites are parts of a meteor that have fallen to Earth.